Life Cycles: How One Bike Courier Circumnavigated the Globe In 169 Days and Broke a World Record

Julian Sayarer grew up on a bike and cut his teeth as a London cycle courier. When the round‑the‑world cycling record is broken by a rider backed by banks and big business, he decides to take it back the hard way. What follows is an extraordinary six‑month ride of 110 miles a day on just £7.82 daily — a raw, low‑budget circumnavigation powered by stubbornness, curiosity and a love of the open road.
Crossing twenty countries at 12mph, Sayarer pedals through jungles, snowstorms and deserts, sleeping under motorway bridges in China, getting stranded without money in Kazakhstan and even being bitten by a dog in North Carolina. Yet he embraces every moment, finding unexpected kindness, strange encounters and a shared humanity that links Tartars in Central Asia with trailer‑park families in Louisiana.
Part travelogue, part political reflection and part celebration of life on two wheels, this is a gripping reminder that the world is vast, unpredictable and waiting to be discovered — especially by bicycle.